


Curiosity Could Cull The Karezi

by Lhyllianna



Series: Curiosity Could Cull the Karezi [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Earthbound - Freeform, Humanstuck, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-16
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2018-01-04 19:33:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1084887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lhyllianna/pseuds/Lhyllianna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat has a history of depression and self-harm, but with Terezi's help, was able to overcome it. One night, he has a strange dream, and decides to try it again, whilst living with Terezi. Things don't go quite as planned...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Surely It Couldn't Hurt...

 

Chapter 1; Surely It Couldn't Hurt...

He waited for the familiar euphoria spread throughout his mind; the release from the real world, from his problems, from everything. The sting it left as it grazed his skin. T3R3Z1 would kill him.

The tape had been a bitch to get off quietly, with her much keener hearing in the bedroom right there and him in the kitchen.

He checked the clock, still waiting for that floating, dreamy, feeling from the thrill of his crimson release.

Kankri was supposed to visit today.

_I’LL HAVE TO CLEAN UP BEFORE THEN…_

He heard the bed creak and a murmur that sounded like his name. Back in reality. Yay! Wait

FUCK.

T3R3Z1 had either noticed he was gone or would very soon.

He scrambled for the bandages he’d set by the sink, turning the tap off as quietly as possible. Which was, unfortunately, not very.

She stirred again. Hastily applying the bandages to stem the flow, he put as much pressure on it as he could. It wasn’t as deep this time, and he healed fast. They’d scab over in a few hours.

Well, it seemed to have stopped now. Bandage set 2; for the cover up. Putting the other set aside in a bag he’d through under the bed until he got a chance to dispose of them later, he wrapped the others around and around and around.

Practice makes perfect, and he’d had plenty of practice.

Sneaking into the ensuite, he flushed the toilet, pretending to open the door gently. Pulling his sleeves down, he crept back under the covers, where T3R3Z1, stiil mostly asleep, asked him where he’d been. “JUST IN THE TOILET.” Making some kind of noise as recognition, she turned over and wriggled up against him. He smiled and closed his eyes to breathe in the smell of her freshly washed hair. He placed his arm over her waist, and waited a bit for sleep.

 


	2. OH, SHIT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, so I've been procrastinating typing this up, but turns out I did most of it ages ago. Anyway, enjoy!

PART 2: OH, SHIT

He woke up the next morning after a little fretful sleep, but was first aware of T3R3Z1’s absence. He heard the rustle of a plastic bag that sounded like it came from under the bed.

Her slightly hoarse voice filled the small room accusingly and disappointedly. “K4RK4T V4NT4S.” He cringed. Too loud for him to not have woken up to.

“HMMM?”

Stealing a glance at the clock, he hoped that this would be over quickly. 8:23am. The bus came at 8:25am. And T3R3Z1 had found the bag he’d used; this wouldn’t be a good day.

“WOULD YOU M1ND T3LL1NG M3 WH4T TH1S 1S?”

“WHAT WHAT IS?”

‘DON’T PL4Y DUMB W1TH M3, M1ST3R. 1 C4N SM3LL TH3 BLOOD.”

He mustn’t’ve sealed the bag properly. To put this situation mildly, ‘OH, SHIT’.

“1T’S FR3SH, TOO. ONLY 4 F3W HOURS OLD.”

 _NO, NO, NO. PLEASE, OH GOD, PLEASE DON’T REMEMBER ME WAKING UP EARLIER._ He rolled over to look at her properly. She heard the bed creak and arched her eyebrows. She was standing over him beside the bed. His auburn hair fell over his face as she yanked the curtains open.

The teal highlights in her black hair were caught by the sunlight coming in through the windows, and her tinted sunglasses glared in the reflection. She spoke under her arm as one of her hands gripped a curtain. “1 THOUGHT W3’D SORT3D TH1S OUT, K4T. 1’M SO SORRY.” He realised with no small amount of surprise that she was almost crying.

“OH, GOD. NO, TEZ, IT’S NOT LIKE THAT. IT WAS... IT WAS JUST -”

T3R3Z1 didn’t wait around long enough to find out what it ‘just’ was. She was out the bedroom door rummaging in her bag for the keys. She loved the sounds they made; she saw little blue sparks behind her blind eyes whenever she heard them. Any other set of keys made completely different noises, so she always knew where hers were.

“HURRY UP. 1’M GO1NG TO B3 L4T3.” Her voice quivered a little as she ordered KARKAT to get dressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little thingy that I might be putting P3 up today as well. :) Thanks for reading! Have a nice day and stuff.


	3. 4 T4ST3 OF TH3 P4ST

PART 3: 4 T4ST3 OF TH3 P4ST

Tasting a hint of pistachio as her heels clacked on the wooden floor in the entryway, she used the sounds to locate the familiarly positioned lock on the front door.

She was particularly proud of how she’d been able to utilise her synaesthesia and other senses to mentally construct her surroundings. Her grandmother had had to do the same thing at a much older age, due to conjunctivitis. The density of an object affected the type of sound it made, as well as how loud gave her indications that were exceptionally accurate for the distance between herself and the object. It could also tell her what the shape of the object is, and what it was made of. Her synaesthesia she’d been born with, but her blindness came from an accident when she was very young. Her abusive father had been threatening l4tul4 and T3R3Z1 with some rather unpleasant prospects, so their mother had removed them from to situation. On the way to their grandmother Redglare’s house, an unexpected oil slick caused the car to swerve into a telegraph pole. The impact killed their mother, and destroyed the car – both of which l4tul4 was old enough to remember. T3R3Z1 had been about 6, and l4tul4 10. l4tul4 had healed with minimal scarring, but her olfactory nerves were incinerated by the fumes. T3R3Z1, however, was left completely blind by some stray glass from the window, that also grazed her trachea and damaged her voice box; it gave her voice a slightly grating quality.

Since then, she refused to ever be driven anywhere in a car. Scooters, skateboards and bikes, fine. Trucks, aeroplanes, buses and boats – all good. Just cars. No. Just no.

She caught a bus to uni, where she was studying law. She’d always admired Batman and other justice-driven comic superheroes, so she decided to do her best to give others a chance in the courtroom; the victim and the prosecutor. She dreamed of being what she’d mispronounced as ‘legislacerator’ when she was younger.

She’d also, in lieu of her comic obsession, learnt any and all martial arts she could – a point it gave her great joy to demonstrate to a wide range of people. Generally randoms trynna steal her stuff, because, ya know, she’s blind. But sometimes KARKAT tried jumping out at her from around a corner. His smell always gave him away – she never told him that though. He used a particular type of deodorant that mixed with his “B.O”, as she called it to tease him, in a way that was distinctive to her. It had certainly saved them in some very, ah, interesting situations while shopping.

She taught KARKAT to do some of the M.A moves, although his terrifying balance made it very difficult for him, and even moreso amusing for T3R3Z1. She’d also done dancing, and the enhanced hearing developed from her blindness gave her an amazing centre of gravity. Both the MA and the dancing kept her exceptionally fit, and she’d turned down many suitable candidates before KARKAT.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you were wondering, ears are our centre of balance. That's what "the enhanced hearing developed from her blindness gave her an amazing centre of gravity" means.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, and more coming soon! :D


	4. PART 4: SNAPBACK

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, Nepeta comes in in the next couple of chapters, and Equius is mentioned. Please don't ask about my casting; I thought it was great at the time - still do, but you know. 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter and stuff.

PART 4: SN4PB4CK

She stormed out of house, slamming the door. KARKAT nearly forgot his shirt in his hurry to catch up. He was going to be late for work, something that had never happened before, and something he was terrified of. He hadn't taken many sick days in the three years since he started working there. His birthdays, and T3R3Z1’s, their anniversaries and few others.

He’d packed his uniform in a bag before going to bed the following night, because the bus timetable meant he could be an hour and a half early or half an hour late. But that wasn’t the problem that morning.

He and T3R3Z1 had spent the first 2 years of their relationship, and the 4 years they knew each other before that determining the cause of KARKAT’s depression. It had taken a while, and his wrists had severe scarring – which could perhaps be expected; his mother had died giving birth to him, and his father merely 6 years later from leukaemia. That had left his elder brother Kankri to look after him, but at 10 years of age, he wasn’t old enough to do anything like that yet. They’d had no other family they knew of, so were admitted into an orphanage a fair distance from their home town.

They were adopted by the Maryams when KARKAT was 10; they already had 2 children of their own – Po+rrim and Kanaya, but could easily afford to raise 4. Kankri and Po+rrim got on exceptionally well, and KARKAT seemed to enjoy Kanaya’s company well enough.

At the orphanage, however, KARKAT had been teased extensively due to his physical inability – he was nigh anaemic. Kankri had always beaten them up, though. That had been fun to watch. The wall they’d had to look at when the Guardians found out what had happened, however, was not.

His use of tape on his wrists was often misinterpreted as him trying to be a tough guy. He got a lot of shit for that too. Kankri knew what they were for, and until they were adopted, it stayed that way.

After that, things improved immeasurably. They attended a proper school, not the 60 kids in different grades to one classroom arrangement from the orphanage.

It was boring, it was terrifying and it was confusing.

T3R3Z1 was the two latter when she was angry. Except now, she wasn’t angry.

Her closed eyelids had not hidden the tears she thought she’d exhausted, and her minutely quivering voice held sadness, disappointment, frustration and helplessness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please keep reading, and have a great day :3


	5. 4 BUMP 1N TH3 RO4D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's not really a lot of story; hope you like it though :)

As she walked down the stairs with her cane, an accessory serving only the purpose of alerting others to her blindness (because without it, they would probably never know), she reflected on the years she and KARKAT had spent together, even before their relationship. She sighed. Then there was a step where she thought there wasn’t. Oops. She tripped only enough for her cane to budge slightly, but she was still ashamed.

It had taken her a long time to be able to use her senses as she now could; her grandmother had been an exceptionally patient woman.

But that was not at the forefront of her mind right now.

All those years she’d spent helping him get over it and suddenly, out of the blue, he did it again.

She almost let her fall propel her into crumpling on the footpath. She was a little devastated. So, so long. He’d gone so long without doing that, and now –bam- the cherry red rust had filled her mind as soon as she’d woken up. She’d known instantly; she could feel the bandages on his wrists through the bed sheets and his pyjamas.

Refocusing on her walking, she replaced her cane on the path, and noticed a wetness on her cheeks; it was salty.

She was crying.

Huh. She hadn’t done that in ages; it was sort of relief to let it out.

She heard a door close – slam – and frustrated muttering, coupled with a jingle of keys and the click of a lock.

There were thundering footsteps as he bounded down the stairs.

She wanted to stop and let him catch up. Hold him and ask him, ‘Why?’ Why had he done it? Why hadn’t he talked to her first? Why…

But she didn’t.

She kept walking, speeding up as she strode along the all too familiar path. Her eyebrows furrowed and she bit her lip as he called to her.

“TEREZI! PLEASE – TEZ! WAIT – FUCK!” His voice was catching in his throat, fragmenting his words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dude, this work thing that I'm not actually 100% with has been read, as of my awareness, by 120 people. That is phenomenal! Thanks guys :D I hope you like it enough to keep reading :)
> 
> The story's been a bit slow-going lately, but hopefully that'll change and there'll be less tangents in my drafts that have actually jack shit to do with this story. Haha.

**Author's Note:**

> Humanstuck AU. Credit to abnormalWordsmith for some of the headcanons that were the inspiration for the story :D
> 
> His work is amazing, by the way - http://archiveofourown.org/users/abnormalwordsmith, if you feel so inclined.
> 
> Anyway, updates when I type them up, on Xmas holidays at the moment, so might'n be too long :D
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the story and have a good day 0u0
> 
> Also, I haven't decided whether Karkat will be Vantas or Slick; I'll get back to you on that :) Probably Vantas...


End file.
